Chamber's specialist committees okay bill on electronic monitoring in judicial, criminal proceedings

The judiciary and defence committees of the Chamber of Deputies okayed on Tuesday a report on a bill on electronic monitoring in judicial and criminal proceedings.

The bill, to which the committees brought technical amendments to the form adopted by the Senate in 2020, regulates the establishment, organisation and operation of the Electronic Monitoring Information System, or SIME in short, the use of electronic monitoring devices and action in case of generating alarms, as well as data protection measures under SIME.

Under the bill, the electronic monitoring carried out under as provided for in the bill regards exclusively electronic monitoring devices located on the Romanian soil.

The development, administration and operation of SIME are done by the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police and the National Administration of Penitentiaries.

The bill also stipulates that the mobile electronic monitoring devices be mounted on the ankle of the supervised persons. As an exception, the device is mounted on the person's arm when mounting on the ankle is not physically possible or is medically contraindicated.

The fixed electronic monitoring devices shall be installed in the building where home arrest is being carried out or in the building where the supervised person is not allowed to approach.

In the case of a protected person, he/she will be provided with an electronic monitoring device designed to generate alerts on approach under a preset distance of the mobile electronic monitoring devices carried by the supervised person.

The report of the specialist committee will be submitted for debate at a plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case. A